The Chronology of Prom
by ba0zi
Summary: Sasuke asks Hinata to prom, and she accepts. Konoha Preparatory Academy at its finest. multipairing: sasuhina, kibaino, narusaku


Welcome to Konoha Preparatory Academy, the most prestigious private school in the country, home to wealthy elites and society's greatest minds—and currently in prom season. Three weeks before prom, to be exact.

Enter Sasuke Uchiha, honor student extraordinaire, complete with 4.5 overall GPA and enough extracurricular activities to create a five-page résumé. He was co-captain of the varsity football team, first-string point guard in varsity basketball, three-time badminton champion in singles' matches, and much admired Vice President of the Associated Student Body.

"Sasuke, this is your _last_ chance—"

"—Go get her, man. She's practically _waiting_ for you."

"Grow some fucking balls and—"

Onyx eyes narrowed at the last comment, and Sasuke sent a glare to the small group of boys behind him, egging him on to ask his high school crush to go to prom with him. "Shut up," he hissed, waving his hand dismissively.

She was at her locker, putting away her books and getting ready to go home. Her usual gaggle of girlfriends weren't by her, probably waiting for her right outside the school. He took it as a good omen. It was the perfect opportunity for him to sweep her off her feet and ask her to prom.

Clearing his throat, he held up a bouquet of lilies and snapdragons (because roses and orchids are _so_ passé; gentlemen, take notes), and poked her gently on the shoulder. A greatly surprised Hinata Hyuuga twirled around suddenly, knocking the flowers out of his hand, and scattering the vividly colored petals on the floor around them.

"Oh, S-Sasuke, I'm so sorry!"

He could hear the snickers from his friends behind him, and resisted the urge to yell at them to go away. "It's alright," he intoned softly, picking up the slightly ruined bouquet, and holding it out for her again. "It's, uh—it's for you."

Taking in her shocked expression, Sasuke tried to ignore the explosion of butterflies in his stomach and asked, "I know this isn't the most creative way to ask but… Hinata Hyuuga, will you go to prom with me?"

Her opalescent eyes widened another fraction, and Hinata opened and closed her mouth like a gaping fish out of water. Gesturing to herself nervously, she asked, "Wait, w-with me? You're asking me to … um, to prom?"

"Yes," he said with a slight nod, wishing she could just say yes (or no) so that he could get this whole thing over with. When he saw her reluctant expression, panic filled him, and he ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Are … are you already going with someone?"

She looked away shyly and paused, making him even more anxious. "Um, no, I just…"

"You don't want to go with me," he guessed, shoving his hands in his pockets. The shocked gasps behind him did nothing to help the situation; the _one girl_ that he could tolerate being around in the entire high school was rejecting him, and his friends were there to witness it. Disappointment filled his features, and he prepared himself for the biggest letdown in his high school career.

Hinata looked at him again, her bright eyes still somewhat confused as she faced him. "I-it's not that," she reasoned, gently stroking the petals of the flowers she was holding. "I'm actually really flattered," admitted the blunette, blushing slightly. "But I'm just planning to go with friends, and well, I … I know a _lot_ of girls that would love to go with you—"

"I don't want to go with anyone else," Sasuke cut her off tersely. "I want to go with you."

She was taken aback by his admission once again, and her face burned red with embarrassment. "A-are you sure?"

"Positive," he reaffirmed, looking her in the eye.

"Okay, then," replied Hinata, swallowing nervously. "I'll go to prom with you."

-;

"He was practically on his knees, just _begging_—"

"—Oh, sweet, _sweet_ Hinata. Won't you just say yes to me—?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his friends' antics, not really wanting to be reminded of how he almost got rejected by the school's number one sweetheart. "Shut up. Don't you guys have anything better to do?"

Naruto cackled loudly and shook his head. "Man, teme, you should have seen the look on your face! When she was about to reject you—"

"She wasn't about to reject me," he seethed, adjusting the backpack on his shoulder. They had just finished fourth period and were on their way to the cafeteria. It had been two days since Sasuke plucked up the courage to ask Hinata about prom, but everyone was talking about it, and the rumors seemed to get more and more extravagant with each passing day. He was certain Naruto was to blame.

"Well, she sure as hell wasn't about to say yes," quipped Kiba, walking beside them. He grinned smugly and added, "If anything, she said yes out of pity."

Sasuke just marched on ahead, tuning out their mockery. He didn't care if she said yes out of pity—at least she said yes. That was enough to make him happy.

They walked around the maze of tables once they reached the cafeteria and stood in line, waiting to get their trays of food.

"Hey guys," greeted Ino, who hopped in line beside them. Sakura followed behind her, along with Hinata.

"Back of the line, ladies. You don't deserve to be in our glorious presence," said Kiba haughtily, a toothy grin on his face.

"This _is_ the back of the line, you mangy mutt," replied Ino, gesturing to the empty air behind them.

As Ino and Kiba began arguing/flirting as usual, Sasuke sidled over to Hinata and nodded once in greeting. She responded with a blush and a smile. "Hello, Sasuke."

He shuffled his feet slightly and quietly asked, "Hey. Have you picked out a dress yet?"

"N-not yet," she replied, poking her index fingers together. "Would you… Would you like to come with me to the mall this weekend? I'm probably going to look for my dress then."

Pausing briefly in her exchange with Kiba, Ino caught Hinata's eye and sent her a wink, causing the heiress to blush boldly. Sakura, too, smiled at her knowingly, but didn't comment. Their little Hinata was all grown up!

The corner of Sasuke's lips tugged up in a small smile and he shrugged. "Sure. Saturday morning?"

"Let's all go!" butted in Naruto, throwing an arm around Sasuke's shoulders. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde and spoke up. "I don't think—"

"Hey, that's a great idea!" announced Ino. "I need to go shopping this weekend anyways. Sakura, you coming?"

Sasuke glowered silently as the rest of the group began chattering excitedly about heading to the mall together on Saturday. Hinata giggled at the expression on his face and smiled. "I think it will be more fun with company," she murmured, trying to reassure him. His face carefully morphed into a mask of indifference, and the young boy shrugged once again.

"I'll give you my number," he said suddenly, while everyone else was chatting excitedly about meeting over the weekend. "Text me when you get to the mall."

"Sure," agreed Hinata, anxious at the idea of having a _boy's phone number_ stored in her cell phone, other than Kiba, Shino, and male relatives. She held out her cellphone to Sasuke, and he punched in his digits for her.

"There," he finished, handing it back to her. "I look forward to hearing from you."

-;

"Ohmigawd Hinata—it's _so_ obvious that he's completely in love with you."

Hinata cradled the phone close to her ear using her shoulder, and carefully began applying nail polish to her little toe. "I don't know, Ino. I think Sasuke just tolerates me … and that's about it."

"Hinata, if a guy says, '_I look forward to hearing from you_,' that's practically a marriage proposal!"

A tired Hanabi trotted into her older sister's room and dropped a stack of books in front of her desk, startling Hinata and causing her to smudge the second layer of polish. "I need help with homework," said the younger, a bored look in her eye.

"Um, Ino, I'll call you back later. My sister needs help with some stuff." After exchanging good-byes and hanging up, Hinata shoved her cellphone into her pocket and smiled pleasantly at Hanabi. "What do you need help with? Nii-san isn't home yet?" Hanabi _never_ came to her for help with homework. It was a well-known fact that Hanabi and her cousin, Neji, were the two prodigies in the family; Hinata was stuck with normal levels of intelligence and needed to work her ass off to get the same grades.

"It was a trick to get you off the phone. I don't even know what these books are," replied Hanabi with a flip of her hair, plopping down on the king-sized bed. "I heard that you're going to prom with Sasuke Uchiha."

Hinata colored slightly, turning her attention back to painting her nails with a second layer of silver. The sisters essentially went to the same school, simply in different quadrants. Hanabi was still a freshman (though at times she acted like she was a 60-year old grandmother), so she was normally on the west side of campus, and Hinata stayed on the east side of campus, where the junior and senior students were located.

"Where did you hear that?" asked the older, after a momentary lapse in silence.

Hanabi pursed her lips. "Doesn't matter. Is it really true?"

"It is," said Hinata quietly, glancing at her sister. "Why do you ask?"

"Is he nice?"

"Relatively. He's kind of curt and blunt sometimes, but I think he's pretty nice to his friends."

"Does he smell?"

Hinata laughed and set down the nail polish. "What's with all the questions, Hanabi? He doesn't smell particularly bad…"

"Do you like him?" the younger girl persisted, laying on her stomach on Hinata's bed.

"As a friend, sure."

"Don't you have to like someone a lot to go to a dance with them?"

"To an extent," replied the older sibling, smiling patiently. "In the end, it's you choice to go or not go with someone. And if you let your emotions reign over your decision-making, then yes, you would probably need to like them a lot."

Hanabi huffed, "Then why are you going with him?"

Hinata shrugged, looking away. "He asked me nicely enough and got me flowers. He's not rude—not to me, at least—and he seemed like he really wanted to go with me." Her lips fell into a wistful grin once again, and she continued, "I think it's good when guys are earnest and go after what they want. It's an admirable quality, don't you think?"

Hanabi watched her sister thoughtfully. "So you went with him, because you liked his ambition?"

"Ambition is a word for it. The ability to act, not just talk and brag, but do something about it. Yes, I suppose that's why I went with him."

Hinata glanced back at her sister and was surprised to see she seemed to be struggling to find the right words. Finally, Hanabi said, "Nee-san, Konohamaru asked me to go on a date with him in front of _everyone_. And I was so embarrassed—I just wanted to kick his ass and—"

"Hanabi, language."

"Fine. I wanted to chop his penis off and feed it to Shino's bug collection. But he seemed so hurt when I rejected him outright, and I feel really bad, and I don't think he's really a bad guy or anything, but it was just so embarrassing, and I didn't want everyone to think that I _liked_ him or anything—"

Hinata giggled and waddled over to her sister, careful not to let her nail polish smudge against the richly carpeted floors. She plopped down beside her and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. The younger one was babbling at this point, her grey eyes misty and full of unshed tears.

"But you're right. I think it was really cool of him to do that and—and really flattering. I never thought anyone would think of me that way, but I never really thought of _him_ that way, so I didn't think it would be right of me to date him—and, ohmigawd, imagine Father—what on earth would Father think? And now Konohamaru doesn't even talk to me, but everyone's spreading rumors, and I hate it! I just want things to go back to normal. I really want to talk to him, but I think I just ruined it all."

"Oh, Hanabi, it's not the end of the world," said Hinata. "If anything, I bet he really just wants to talk to you too, but he probably thinks he's ruined your friendship already."

Hanabi just sniffed and nodded, burying her head into her older sister's shoulder.

"You should be the brave one this time, and talk to him about it. He pretty much risked his reputation and everything else to ask you out. He probably has no confidence left to approach you. So tell him how you feel," said Hinata, smiling encouragingly. "And I know that you're the bravest person in the world, Hanabi."

Weak arms wrapped around Hinata's waist, and Hanabi nodded once more, wiping her tears on her sleeves. "Thanks, nee-san."

Hinata kissed the top of Hanabi's head and was reminded once again that, no matter how grown up she acted or seemed, her younger sister was still just a kid.

-;

"God, I hate shopping," moped Kiba, shoving his hands into his pockets. Hinata smiled secretly behind the sleeve of her sweater and nodded.

"Me too. Don't worry. It can't possibly take that long … right?"

Kiba glanced at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me? You agreed to go shopping with _Ino and Sakura_, of all people. I hope you didn't have anything else planned for the day."

Giggling, she nudged Kiba with her shoulder and pulled out her cellphone. "They're fun to be around." She typed up a hasty message to Sasuke, telling him that she'd just arrived with Kiba at the mall.

"Do you know where we're supposed to meet them?" asked the brunette.

Hinata shook her head. "I think they're supposed to come find us. I just told Sasuke that we're by the big fountain."

Waggling his eyebrows, Kiba joked, "Ah, you have his number already? Look at you, Hinata!"

"Hinata!" yelled Ino and Sakura simultaneously, as they spotted her from across the mall and hugged her.

"Don't I get a hug too?" whined Kiba, standing forlornly in the corner.

Ino rolled her eyes at him and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Oh, please. I'm not even going to dignify that request with a response."

"Hey Kiba, Hinata," said Naruto, sauntering over to the group. Sasuke followed closely behind him and nodded at the both of them. "Where do you guys wanna go first?" asked the blonde boy.

"Me and Sakura need to go to Sephora for makeup. Do you want to come with us, Hinata?" asked Ino, glancing at the Hyuuga.

"We need to find a dress," said Sasuke, his deep voice cutting through the air. "We'll split up for now and meet you later for a late lunch."

Kiba frowned. "I'm not gonna leave Hinata with a wolf like you—"

Not one to condone conflict, Hinata jumped in. "It's ok, Kiba," murmured Hinata. "I think it would be more effective if we all split up for now to do … whatever it is we all need to accomplish, and then we'll meet back at the food court."

The brunette frowned at Hinata's answer, not liking that she didn't side with him.

"Oh, c'mon, Kiba. Let them go dress shopping," said Ino, an exasperated look on her face. "After me and Sakura stop by Sephora, we'll go check out the pet shop on the other side of the mall. Happy?"

Rolling his eyes, Kiba turned towards the blonde and stated, "The issue at hand is not regarding stores or shops, or whatever it is you want to do in the mall—this is specifically regarding Hinata and that scoundrel Sasuke—"

"Kiba," interrupted Hinata, grabbing his arm gently. The brunette shrunk back slightly and glanced back at her. "We'll be fine," she assured, a small smile on her face. "I'll text you every few minutes. Okay?" If not for the warm look in her face and the encouraging smile on her lips, Kiba would have outrightly refused as any good older-brother-figure would. But after melting into a puddle of Kiba-goo at Hinata's expression, he—

"Fine," he huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets.


End file.
